Pomelo or Pummelo?

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You say pomelo, we say Pummelo. Regardless, this is one giant fruit. While shopping at Trader Joe’s last week, we came across this enormous citrus…easily twice the size of a typical grapefruit. While the pomelo is new to us, it is actually an ancestor to both grapefruits and oranges.

The pomelo may look like a grapefruit on the outside, it is clearly not when sliced open. The center of the fruit has a stem in the center which is about the size of a quarter. We had expected the pomelo to have more flesh. Instead, the amount of flesh is about the same as that of a regular grapefruit. However, the rind was about an inch-thick. It had a spongy, pillow-y texture to it and would serve as a good cushion for the fruit in a fall.

The scent of the pomelo is lighter and the taste was much sweeter than a typical grapefruit. We found the best way to open one up for eating was by cutting instead of peeling. Cutting the fruit into wedges or slices will work equally well.

It will be interesting if we could find a good use for the spongy rind of the pomelo. Nothing else, the slices are very decorative and would make for an unusual way to decorate a bowl of punch, spiked or otherwise!